My Lord Deceived (4 page)

“I think we
need to see what their reaction is to us being there, and see what
we overhear. Whatever is going on, I am going to get to the bottom
of it, and have to ensure that it stops, before we all end up
behind bars.” It was a bit of an overstatement, but not by much. At
the very least, smuggling brought about a jail term. Anyone
associated with any village was likely to be arrested for
questioning if smugglers were found to be based in one particular
area. Jonathan couldn’t afford for any link to be made to anyone in
Bentney on Sea.

They entered
the busy tap room of the Shipwright Inn several moments later. The
loud chorus of the sea shanty was just reaching its climax.
Jonathan and Harper waited patiently beside the bar for Harry to
drop two mugs of ale in front of them, just as the sea shanty ended
amid raucous cheers and ribald laughter.

Jonathan was
oblivious to everything except for the woman behind the bar who was
pouring rum for two customers. He watched her glance up and smile
at something one ageing customer said to her. Her straight, white
teeth glinted in the candle light as she threw back her head and
laughed, her eyes alight with twinkling mischief that made him want
to smile. His face softened, and he waited for her to notice him,
but her attention was taken by two young sailors propping up the
bar at the far end. He watched closely as she scowled at them and
shook her head, clearly not prepared to fulfil their order.
Whatever they were asking for they weren’t going to get, but the
sailors didn’t seem prepared to take no for an answer.

Jonathan and
Harper both stiffened in readiness when the men began to grow
heated in their persistent demands for more rum, only for several
of the locals to interrupt and strong-arm the young deckhands out
of the pub.

Kat watched
them go and shook her head. It never ceased to amaze her just how
much young men could drink, and still remain upright. She knew that
those two would have sore heads in the morning, but had little
sympathy for them. She turned around to dispose of their mugs and
froze when she saw who stood on the opposite side of the bar.

“Evening
gentlemen,” she said warily and flicked a beseeching glance at the
inn keeper, Harry, who was unfortunately busy further down the bar.
She tried to keep her gaze impassive, but the sight of Jonathan
Arbinger mere feet away shook her. The realisation that she was
going to have to serve him made her cringe but she kept her face
polite and impassive as she moved toward him and Mr
Hamilton-Smythe. Her job was to serve in the tavern after all
which, ordinarily, wasn’t a problem; however it was the intensity
with which Jonathan studied her that disturbed her greatly. It was
as though he was trying to read her inner most thoughts and she
didn’t like it one bit. Especially given that he had haunted her
dreams for so long now that she had a physical ache deep inside at
what could never be.

Over the years,
she had tried to keep him at a distance. Whenever he had ventured
close enough to speak to her, he had always left her feeling gauche
and tongue-tied. She was a young woman who knew her own mind. She
wasn’t afraid to work for her living and enjoyed what she did, but
the effect that this man had on her always left her feeling a
little off balance and unworthy. He made her think about things she
had no business considering, especially with someone like him.

Whenever he
left, and he always seemed to leave, it seemed to take her longer
and longer to put away the feelings she had for him and carry on
with her life regardless. She knew it was self-defeating to feel
anything for this man. He was a charlatan; a rogue who used his
home as a half-way house on his way to, or from, London. He had no
intention of settling in Denham Hall and, when he did decide to
stop being a rogue and settle down, it certainly would not be with
someone like her. Still, it did little to banish the acute
awareness she felt whenever he was around.

Kat sighed,
feeling a small pang of envy for the woman who would have him for a
husband. Even though he was socially far out of her reach, he was
still extraordinarily handsome. His sheer size alone captured the
respect of most of the people around him, and the wariness of
others. His broad shoulders filled out his expensive jacket with
masculine perfection, and emphasised his lean yet powerful frame.
His brown, slightly curled hair gently brushed the collar of his
pristine white shirt and gave him a slightly wind-swept look that
was dashing as well as it was roguish.

She felt the
now familiar tightening around her heart and immediately blocked
the feeling out. She certainly didn’t love Jonathan Arbinger
anymore; that had been a young girls dream. The handsome Lord of
the parish always sent many a female heart aflutter whenever he
happened by. Kat was no different to practically every other female
with a heart in the village, but all of that youthful infatuation
she once held for him had long since gone. Jonathan had now grown
into a devastatingly handsome man, but had been drawn away from
hearth and home, tempted by the bright lights and luxurious
frivolities of life in London.

It was shameful
the way he had turned his back on his family, and she had seen
first-hand just how upset his father had been at his son’s
continual absence prior to his death. Although Jonathan’s uncle
Bruce lived in the house, the place still felt strangely bereft.
But still, it was none of her business. If he ran true to form, he
would be at Dentham Hall for a day or so and then vanish again just
as quickly as he came.

“Gentlemen,
what can I get you?”

“Two ales
please, Kat,” Harper sighed. He studied the intensely probing gaze
Jonathan gave the young woman, and couldn’t quite make his mind up
whether the penetrating stare was down to appreciation for a
beautiful woman, or personal interest. Although the woman was
beautiful, he had no idea if there had been any previous dalliance
between the two. The tension that hovered in the air between them
was palpable though and hinted at far more going on than customer
and bar maid.

Harper didn’t
know much about the villagers. Having only been in the area for the
last two years, he was still classed as new to the area, but he
knew a beautiful woman when he saw one. She seemed so out of place
amongst the labourers, sailors and fishermen that he couldn’t help
but wonder what had driven her to take such a job, but then gave
himself a mental shake. It really was none of his business.

The Shipwright
Inn had a reputation for good food, good ale and good song, and had
never caused a problem to anyone in authority. It was why Harper
chose it as his own local drinking establishment, in spite of the
fact that it was several miles away from his own home in Upper
Dentham.

Kat turned away
and was glad to be free of Jonathan’s watchful gaze for a moment.
She quickly poured their ales and pushed them onto the counter
before she swept the coins off and dropped them into Harry’s box.
She didn’t glance at the men again, merely moved down the bar to
serve the others but every sense was tuned to Jonathan’s every
moment. It took all of her willpower not to glance at him again,
and it was a relief when he and Mr Hamilton-Smythe took a seat in
the corner of the room.

“Kat? Over
here,” Harry called during a lull in serving. Kat moved to his side
and studied Norman and Charles who stood on the opposite side of
the bar. “Another bundle is coming in.”

Kat scowled.
“So soon? Why is this happening so often?”

“I don’t know,”
Charles shrugged and looked abashed as though it was all his fault,
which they knew it wasn’t. “We got word this afternoon,” he
whispered conspiratorially. “It is coming in at first light.”

Kat’s thoughts
immediately turned to the already full hiding places in the house,
and she mentally began to consider different areas in the house
they could use to hide the extra goods, but she knew it was going
to be a futile effort. She had already spent the afternoon with her
mother, Billy and Hester, dividing up the last delivery of goods
but they hadn’t been shipped yet. Market wasn’t until tomorrow
morning. They didn’t have enough room in the house for two lots of
cargo, even for a few hours. If the excise men turned up, Kat and
her family, as well as Hester, would all be heading off to
jail.

“Can we store
it somewhere else? We are struggling for space and cannot risk
being caught with the stuff. Harrison is turning up far too often
for comfort,” she sighed.

“I know,” Harry
muttered, and mentally considered the kegs of brandy beneath his
cellar floor. He was already full to the rafters and was going to
have to start digging up his garden if he didn’t get some of it
shifted soon.

Nigel
Hawkshurst was the provider; the man who spoke to his people to
accept the shipments that came in. Nobody had sought to ask too
many questions of how the man got his information but, so far,
whenever Nigel had said that shipments would arrive, they had; on
time and in full.

“Good heavens,
we have a massive problem,” Kat sighed and dipped her head when
Norman leaned toward her.

“You need to
take mine as well,” Norman whispered. “I don’t have anywhere to
store mine at all.”

Kat stared at
him in horror. She had enough problems storing her own, she
couldn’t run the risk of keeping anyone else’s, but she hated to
let the old man down. She knew that he struggled to carry things
with his gnarled fingers, and he depended on the extra income to
put food on his table. Still, she had mother and Billy to
consider.

“I cannot take
anything more, Charles, I really don’t have the hiding places,” she
gasped, and flicked a horrified glance at Harry, who shook his head
sadly.

“Me
either.”

“We could put
it in the barn, I suppose.” They all considered Farmer Ridgeley’s
barn for several moments. Although it was a perfect hiding place
because it was out in the middle of nowhere, getting goods there,
let alone back, would prove to be a nightmare because it stood out
in stark silhouette on the top of the cliffs. Nobody could approach
the building without being seen by practically everyone in the
village.

They all stared
at each other nonplussed for a moment as they weighed up the
options.

“What time is
it coming in?”

“Usual time,”
Harry whispered out of the corner of his mouth. News had spread.
Kat noted several people glance conspiratorially at them and they
all shared a knowing, if slightly panicked, look of
exasperation.

“Do you need me
to help you?”

“Not tonight.
Andrew’s cousin, Barney, is here along with Norman’s nephew. We
don’t need you tonight, Kat.”

“We have to
accept it,” Kat sighed. She wondered what they could do to shift
the first delivery while keeping Harrison from finding the second.
She made a mental note to make sure she was up at first light to
collect their share of the goods from Harry, but couldn’t think of
anywhere to put the numerous barrels, boxes and bolts of cloth they
usually took in a delivery.

“Of course we
do. If we stop, we may not be included again.” They all helped to
remove the cargo from the rowing boats that brought the goods to
shore. Once they were on dry land, the goods were divided up
between the locals, while the bulk was left on the beach to be
collected by Hawkshurst and his men. Nobody had any idea where the
bulk of the cargo vanished to, none of them dared ask any
questions, but the villagers were happy with their share of the
goods and, more often than not, sold them on to make a profit for
their hard work on the beach. Unfortunately, of late, the ships had
started to come through with more and more frequency until they all
struggled to keep up with the supply and had run out of hiding
places. At the moment, the village was packed to the rafters with
smuggled cargo, and it was only a matter of time before Harrison
found some, if not all of it.

Harry thought
about the rum sitting in various tins in his kitchen, and the tea
buried beneath his roses, and mentally winced at the thought of
having to dig up more of his land at the back of the tavern. All he
seemed to do was spend his days traipsing spare soil to the
shoreline to toss into the sea. How he was going to explain the
holes that suddenly appeared in his garden when he did have to dig
it back up again he had no idea.

“I am going to
struggle to find somewhere to hide the new cargo. Our sales for
market tomorrow are already covered, but we still have to store two
loads before we can leave for Tattersnell. We cannot expect our
buyers to purchase two lots in one go, even if we had time to
package it.” Kat sighed. She hated to let Norman down but there was
nothing for it.

“I cannot get
rid of what I have any quicker,” Harry sighed.

“God, what a
mess,” Norman groaned when silence settled over them.

“Ahem.”

Kat jumped and
whirled around. She gasped in surprise to find her nose mere inches
from Jonathan’s chest. None of them had heard him walk up to stand
beside them. Kat ignored the guilty blush that stained her cheeks
and glared up at him.

“Want a
re-fill?” Harry asked and threw Jonathan an overly bright smile
that betrayed the cautious look in his eye.

Kat merely
flicked him a half-hearted smile and turned back to Norman. “I am
sure you will get it sorted soon,” she soothed and tried
desperately to think of something oblique to say. She had no idea
how much Jonathan had overheard, and frantically retraced the last
few minutes’ conversation for anything that would give their
activities away. She couldn’t lose sight of the fact that Jonathan
was a relative stranger to the area and, as such, couldn’t be
trusted. Not only that, but he sat with the magistrate. She shook
her head and realised just how foolish they had all been. They
should have waited until the men had left and were out of
ear-shot.